In a letter addressed to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) accuses the department of criminally threatening the vendor that developed the troubled HealthCare.gov website. Issa chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which has been investigating the extremely rocky rollout of HealthCare.gov on October 1.

Issa cites a December 6, 2013 letter that HHS sent to Creative Computing Solutions, Inc. In that letter, “the Department claimed that the company is contractually precluded from producing documents to Congress. The letter further stated that the Department will respond to requests from Congress on the company’s behalf.” Issa’s letter states that other HealthCare.gov vendors received similar letters.

But Issa notes that the actual HHS contract precludes vendors from sharing documents with other companies, not Congress, which is charged by the Constitution with overseeing the actions of the executive branch.

“The Department’s attempt to threaten CCSI for the purpose of deterring the company from providing documents to Congress places the officials responsible for drafting and sending the letter on the wrong side of federal statutes that prohibit obstruction of a congressional investigation,” Issa states in the letter to HHS. He cites Section 1505 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, which states:

Whoever, with intent to avoid, evade, prevent, or obstruct compliance, in whole or in part, with any civil investigative demand duly and properly made under the Antitrust Civil Process Act, willfully withholds, misrepresents, removes from any place, conceals, covers up, destroys, mutilates, alters, or by other means falsifies any documentary material, answers to written interrogatories, or oral testimony, which is the subject of such demand; or attempts to do so or solicits another to do so; or

Whoever corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper administration of the law under which any pending proceeding is being had before any department or agency of the United States, or the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress—

Shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both.

Issa’s letter adds that his committee “takes any effort to obstruct or otherwise interfere with its investigations very seriously.” He also reminds Sebelius that she remains under subpoena for the relevant information herself.

Bryan Preston has been a leading conservative blogger and opinionator since founding his first blog in 2001. Bryan is a military veteran, worked for NASA, was a founding blogger and producer at Hot Air, was producer of the Laura Ingraham Show and, most recently before joining PJM, was Communications Director of the Republican Party of Texas.

Very stern note. She can plead the fifth, if it ever gets past the empty rhetoric stage.

Please pardon my cynicism. I understand fully the limits of the law.

Eric Holder has turned the DOJ into a commune of racists and constitution shredders. Lois Lerner is a criminal who admits that truthful testimony would incriminate her in a seditionist conspiracy.

The EPA is now admitting that its ethanol charade is little more than a leftist plot.

The Iran deal scandal and the Benghazi scandal show that our foreign policy is one giant scam.

So, Issa is grinding through the system...but the system is grinding us harder.

The mendacious lies are coupled with an arrogance that exhibits how deeply the tyranny has set into our flesh.

The Propaganda Machine is doing its utmost to keep the truth from the people, but the totalitarians had to pierce the flesh eventually, and the bleeding has just begun in earnest for the blissfully unaware TassClass voter.

Sebelius, Lerner and the rest belong at the end of a rope. The time for "a good talking to" and a "timeout" in the corner have long since passed. Yes, we must respect the laws and the rules that they clearly do not. That is their advantage that they realize and use. But time is not our friend. These are exigent circumstances.

Wow, another strongly worded letter to a criminal member of this illegitimate regime....are you ever going to DO anything, Rep. Issa? We need a sweeping cleansing of Congress - ALL neo-communists and many republicans need for their collective a$es to be shown the door....all the fellow travelers can try to find a meaningful, full-time job with health benefits ;) Remember the good ol' days when that was every adult's ambition? We are suffering from a fundamental lack of LEADERSHIP.... BOTH in our party and in our country.

“we have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.”... “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” John Adams

Perhaps this vast leftwing criminal conspiracy will disintegrate the way all criminal conspiracies eventually do, with the whole nest of vermin turning on one another. These people may have intense loyalty to The Cause but that doesn't necessarily mean they have any loyalty among themselves. In fact, the low character that seems to be a major qualification for membership in this club probably makes a dog eat dog scenario certain.

Alright, Congressman, now how do you enforce the letter? You certainly can't count on the Attorney General because he runs the Department of Just Us, and that doesn't include you. I suppose you could send over the Capital Police, but I doubt they have the clout to impress DHHS all that much.

Very stern note. She can plead the fifth, if it ever gets past the empty rhetoric stage.

Please pardon my cynicism. I understand fully the limits of the law.

Eric Holder has turned the DOJ into a commune of racists and constitution shredders. Lois Lerner is a criminal who admits that truthful testimony would incriminate her in a seditionist conspiracy.

The EPA is now admitting that its ethanol charade is little more than a leftist plot.

The Iran deal scandal and the Benghazi scandal show that our foreign policy is one giant scam.

So, Issa is grinding through the system...but the system is grinding us harder.

The mendacious lies are coupled with an arrogance that exhibits how deeply the tyranny has set into our flesh.

The Propaganda Machine is doing its utmost to keep the truth from the people, but the totalitarians had to pierce the flesh eventually, and the bleeding has just begun in earnest for the blissfully unaware TassClass voter.

Sebelius, Lerner and the rest belong at the end of a rope. The time for "a good talking to" and a "timeout" in the corner have long since passed. Yes, we must respect the laws and the rules that they clearly do not. That is their advantage that they realize and use. But time is not our friend. These are exigent circumstances.

Wow, another strongly worded letter to a criminal member of this illegitimate regime....are you ever going to DO anything, Rep. Issa? We need a sweeping cleansing of Congress - ALL neo-communists and many republicans need for their collective a$es to be shown the door....all the fellow travelers can try to find a meaningful, full-time job with health benefits ;) Remember the good ol' days when that was every adult's ambition? We are suffering from a fundamental lack of LEADERSHIP.... BOTH in our party and in our country.